Cursed
by Crazy-Obsessed-Writer52
Summary: "Before Lord Voldemort's fall, he cursed you, Draco.  If you do not marry a muggle-born witch by the age of eighteen, you would die a very painful death."
1. Chapter 1

**Cursed**

**A/N: Hello! I wrote this a while ago and just got around to post it now. I don't know when I'll be able to update regularly, though, I get at lease two houra of English homework a night plus all my other on top of that. :( **

**So, I know that Dumbledore should have died and all that, but for the sake of this story, let's pretend that he didn't. Snape never killed him and the curse in his hand that would have killed him if Snape didn't kill him got a miraculous cure, okay? Thanks for your understanding. Enjoy!**

**Chapter One:**

"Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts!" Hermione Granger said as she threw down the green powder and stepped into the flames of the same colour. She felt herself flying through fireplaces until she landed in her destination: the Headmaster's Office of Hogwarts.

"Ah, Miss Granger," Professor Dumbledore said, looking up from the piece of parchment he was examining through his half moon glasses. "Please, have a seat. I have something important to discuss with you, but we must wait for another person to show up. Would you like a sherbet lemon?"

Hermione accepted the sweet and sat on the comfortable armchair, wondering what this could possibly be about. She had received the letter the day before while she was at The Burrow. It was from Professor Dumbledore requesting her presence in his office to discuss an urgent matter. She wondered what could be so urgent. The war was over, with an unbelievable amount of casualties, of course, but over nonetheless.

Suddenly the fireplace roared with green flames and out stepped a tall boy, Hermione's age, with platinum blonde hair.

"Ah, Draco, you've arrived. Excellent." Professor Dumbledore clasped his hands together. "Please have a seat. Would you care for a Sherbet Lemon?" He extended the bowl to Draco Malfoy, who shook his head. Dumbledore shrugged and popped another one into his mouth.

"I expect you wonder why I've called you both here." He said. Hermione nodded while Draco just shrugged. "Well, I'm afraid it's not all good news. You see, we have just received some grave news. Apparently before Lord Voldemort's fall," Draco shuddered at the name. "...he cursed you, Draco, under the reasoning that since you failed to kill me," Draco winced. "...you must be cursed. His curse was something that, in his eyes, was the worst possible thing that could happen to you and your family. If you did not marry a muggle-born witch by the age of eighteen, you would die a very painful death."

Draco was silent. Then, "Why are you only telling me this now? I turn eighteen in a week."

"We only were told yesterday. You see, your father figured out what day it was and made such a ruckus in Azkaban that a ministry official had to come and see what the matter was. He requested my presence, a request which I granted. He told me of this curse and asked me to help him."

"So what does this have to do with me, professor?" Hermione asked softly, fearing the answer she suspected.

"Well, Miss Granger, I know I ask much of you, but I feel that you would be the best choice. I brought you here today to ask you if you would marry Mister Malfoy."

Hermione looked from the headmaster to the boy she had hated since first year. Dumbledore was the same as always, he had an uncharacteristically grim look on his face and eyed Hermione from over his glasses and Hermione had the same feeling that Harry had told her about: as though she was being x-rayed. Malfoy looked pitiful. He was paler than usual, almost as bad as he was in their sixth year. He had dark circles under his eyes and looked as though he hadn't slept in the three weeks since the final battle. In summary, he looked dreadful.

Hermione sighed. What a tough decision. She knew she didn't want to marry the ferret, but she didn't want him to die either. She knew that she had to decide now, especially if Malfoy's birthday was in a week. She would be saving his life if she married him, but she would also be stuck with him for the rest of her life. But, if it only meant marriage, she could still easily live in a different house from him and still have a life. But knowing Voldemort, the curse was probably much worse.

"What exactly would this marriage entail?" She asked quietly.

"Well, you and young Mister Malfoy would be required to me married by an official, something which I, thankfully am. I can perform the ceremony if you wish. The curse will cause you both searing pain if you try to sleep in separate beds and will do the same if you are unfaithful. The marriage will be final, if you should choose to divorce, than Draco will die. It is unfortunate that this should occur, and I do apologize for having to drag you into this, Miss Granger. Now, if you two have no further questions, I will leave and allow you two to discuss the matter yourselves."

Dumbledore got up and left the room, his long, violet robes sweeping behind him. Hermione and Draco sat in silence for a moment before Hermione finally broke the silence with,

"Well, what do you think?"

"I think that I am going to die very shortly." Malfoy answered simply. "I do not want to, but I know that there is no chance in hell that you will marry me."

"And, hypothetically, if I agreed to marry you, would you do it? Or would you die?"

"I suppose I would do it. I do not particularly want to die."

Hermione looked at Malfoy's pale face. It was hard and she could not detect any emotion in it. He had certainly changed since she first met him all those years ago.

She sighed. "I can't believe I'm saying this, Malfoy, but I'll marry you. I don't want to be responsible for anybody's death."

"Are you sure, Granger? I mean, as much as I don't want to die and everything, I would be taking a lot."

"Yes, Malfoy, I'm sure. I don't know _why_ I'm so sure, but I am.

"Well, thanks Granger."

"You're welcome, Malfoy." They sat there in an awkward silence for a few minutes and Dumbledore came back into the room.

"Have you two decided then?"

Hermione nodded. "I'll do it. I'll marry him."

"Excellent. Thank you, Miss Granger. I know that this will be exceedingly difficult for both of you as you have had an..erm..._argumentative _past. Now, as young Mister Malfoy will be turning eighteen in a week, we had better hurry with the plans. It does not have to be large, I can perform the binding ceremony in here with two witnesses.

"That will be fine." Hermione said shortly. "All I ask for is for my parents to be here."

"That can be arranged," Dumbledore said. "How about you, Draco? Who would you like to be here?"

"Just my mother." Draco said.

"Does Wednesday suit you both?" Dumbledore asked. They nodded tightly. "Well then it's settled. I will marry you two on Wednesday morning at eleven o'clock here in my office."

"Thank you, Professor," Hermione said as she stood up and walked over to the fireplace. "I will see you on Wednesday." She nodded at Malfoy. "Malfoy."

Hermione stepped into the flames and shouted, "The Burrow!" When she landed she raced up to her bedroom and cried.

**Review? Tell me if I should keep going or quit. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank-you SO much to: nature love 95, spikeecat, amusiclover96, Loslote, Shyrazie, sNAPpyDraGon, padfootsnuffles,** **and RavenEcho for you kind reviews and encouragement. Thanks to everybody else who alerted or favourited. It means a LOT to me! **

**Also, like I said, I'm doing my best to update as often as I can. This was fairly quick, but I likely won't update again until next weekend. Thanks for your understanding. : ) **

**Chapter Two:**

"Hermione?" Ginny asked, entering their shared bedroom. "You've been up here for two hours. Tell me what the matter is." Harry and Ron had both tried coming in and talking to her when she had come home crying, but she hadn't said a word. Finally, exasperated, they sent Ginny up.

"I—I don't know-" Hermione hiccupped. "—if I can. You'll get angry. S—So will Harry—and Ron—and your whole family."

"No we won't," Ginny promised. "We're like your family. And obviously this has gotten you upset. Just tell us. Maybe we can fix it."

Hermione took a deep breath and wiped her now bloodshot eyes. "All right. So, you know how Lucius Malfoy was making that huge ruckus yesterday in Azkaban?"

Ginny nodded.

"Well it turns out he discovered the date, coincidentally, a week before Malfoy's eighteenth birthday."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Ginny asked.

"Well it turns out Malfoy got cursed by You-Know-Who so that if he didn't marry a muggle born by his eighteenth birthday he would die an excruciatingly painful death. Dumbledore asked me to marry Malfoy."

Ginny 's mouth opened in shock. "You're joking. _Please_ tell me you're joking."

Hermione shook her head mournfully. "I wish I was. I'm going to marry Malfoy on Wednesday.

"But—but that's not even a week away!" Ginny spluttered.

"I know," Hermione murmured. "I don't know how I'm going to tell Harry and Ron."

"They'll be furious," Ginny said.

"I know," Hermione repeated. "Especially Ron. I mean, he and I did date for a short while." A very short while. About a week after the final battle, Hermione and Ron decided that their romance was much more awkward than it should be and that they were better off as friends.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he went over to The Manor and murdered Malfoy himself."

"I know what you mean. We'll need to break it to them gently."

"Break what to who gently?" Harry asked, coming into the room without knocking. "Feeling better, 'Mione?"

Hermione shook her head just as Ron walked in. "Listen, you two. Sit down. I have some upsetting news."

"Is this why you were up here crying all afternoon?" Ron asked. Ginny and Harry both elbowed him roughly due to his lack of tact. Hermione, however, just sighed and said,

"Yes. Well, you see, when I went to Dumbledore's office this morning..." she told the story as calmly as possible. Ginny had to take both Harry and Ron's wands away from them at one point to stop them from going straight over to Malfoy Manor and cursing Malfoy into oblivion.

"What was Dumbledore thinking?" Ron asked, his ears a crimson red. "I mean, marrying you off to the king of ferrets? What is _wrong_ with that old man?"

"Well I don't really have a choice, Ron. Either I marry him or let him die."

"Let him die." Ron said simply. "He's been rotten to you, Hermione. And me and Harry. He tried to kill Dumbledore. He called you the 'M' word. He was a death eater."

"His mum saved Harry. His dad forced him into becoming a death eater. And you know that he didn't kill Dumbledore. You _know_ that he couldn't. Harry was there when Malfoy put his wand down and let Dumbledore get away. You know all this already, Ronald, so quit it."

"I still say you should let him die. He's nothing but trouble, 'Mione."

"Say it was Pansy Parkinson. Would you let her die?"

"Yes." Ron answered. "She hated us, we hated her. That's just the way it works. These house rivalries can't be fixed."

"I disagree, Ronald. Just because they were rotten to us before doesn't mean that they can't change."

"They're Slytherins. They don't change."

"That's like saying that all Gryffindors are stupid and reckless. Is that true?"

Ron looked at the floor and shook his head, giving up on the argument.

'What do you think, Harry?" Hermione asked. "You've been awfully quiet about this whole thing."

"I think that it's noble what you're doing for him after he was nothing but terrible to you at Hogwarts. I don't understand _why_ you're doing it nor would I ever do it. But I don't have as much against him anymore. He didn't kill Dumbledore and his mother did save my life. So for that, I'm okay with this. Just don't expect me to become best mates with him or anything."

"Fair enough. Thank you, Harry."

Harry nodded. The trio sat in silence for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts, before they were pulled out by the tapping of an owl on the window. The owl was a handsomely groomed elf owl. Ron opened the window and the owl flew in, dropped a letter on Hermione's lap and flew back out.

Hermione opened the letter and saw the short message, written neatly in emerald green ink.

_Granger—_

_Meet my mother and I at L'eau fantasique tomorrow at lunch. Wear something nice. _

–_Malfoy_

Hermione sighed. She was hoping to spend some time with family and friends tomorrow, telling them all the news and enjoying her last few days of being a single woman. Now she had to deal with a stuck up aristocratic woman and her irritating son. She knew that they had helped the light in the end, blah, blah, blah, but she still didn't like them, no matter what she told Ron to appease him.

Hermione groaned inwardly as she thought of the location at which she would be meeting her new fiancé. She would have to get Ginny's help to find something appropriate to wear. L'eau fantastique was a very fancy wizarding restaurant which usually required at least a week in advance reservation. She supposed that the Malfoys must have spent an unseemly amount of gold to get them in there.

_Well first thing's first, _she thought, _I should tell mum and dad. Not to mention the Weasleys. _Hermione stood up and headed down the stairs, dreading what was coming.

**Reviews would make my week of long, boring school seem much less tedious! *Wink* **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Surprise! I updated a bit early! My teachers decided to go easy on me today and I only have a little bit of homework tonight! :) I'm thinking about baking an apple pie too...but you really don't care about that, I'm sure. Now I'm just rambling...oh well. :P **

**Again, thank you SO much for all the alerts/ favourites/ reviews! You have no idea how much it means to me! Special thanks to ****xxfreexx, RavenEcho, ReadingIsAWESOME, nature love 95, amusiclover96 animeXfanXlover99 and Loslote for reviewing!**

**Also, in this chapter, there's a bit of Fleur dialogue. I didn't want to write her accent for two reasons. One, I'm lazy and two, I've read fics where they overuse the accent and it's hard to understand. So for this you'll just have to use your imagination.**

**Wow...that is a really long Author's Note...anyways, on with the story!**

**Chapter Three:**

The Weasleys took the news surprisingly well. Hermione told them all in a rush, with Ginny and Harry on each side of her, supporting her the whole way. Molly heard the news and promptly started to cry. Arthur and Bill looked at Hermione in pity while Fleur smiled knowingly about something. This, of course, got Ginny upset, asking why Fleur found this so amusing. Charlie told her that he admired her for doing something like this and Percy agreed. George didn't show any feelings. His face was blank as it had been since his twin died.

When she finished, Molly rushed up and said, "Oh, Hermione, dear. You're so kind, giving up your life for a man you don't even like."

"She's not giving up her life," said Bill, "She's only getting married. You'll still see her."

"I know," Molly hugged her honorary daughter tightly.

"Mum, let her go, we don't want her to suffocate." Charlie said, cracking a small smile.

"I'm sorry, Hermione, dear."

"That's okay. Thank you for your support. I think I just need to be by myself for a bit, though." She headed outside to take a stroll.

She thought carefully about what she was doing. She knew this would affect her life, but she hoped that they could mend their differences and at the very least be friends. She knew that it would be difficult. No doubt, his family still held their old prejudices. She sat outside pondering this for at least an hour when Fleur came over.

"Hermione."

"Hi, Fleur."

"I just want you to know that I think that what you are doing is very good."

"Thanks. Why were you smiling like that earlier?"

"Oh, I was just remembering you and Malfoy at Hogwarts the year I was there. I remember thinking to myself how you two would be perfect for each other were it not for your bickering."

"Oh. Why would you think that?"

"Because you are both very smart, something I know that you need. Malfoy is second in your class next to you. And I could just feel it, call it a sixth sense, if you will."

"I think that your senses must be off then."

"My senses are never wrong, Hermione. You wait."

With that, Fleur left Hermione to her thoughts, all of which consisted of,

_Fleur's lost it._

Hermione smoothed the nonexistent wrinkles out of her elegant red dress as she took a deep breath before entering the fancy restaurant. The second she entered, she was ambushed by a man in a suit, asking to take her coat. She allowed him to and he showed her to the table at which Malfoy and his mother were already sitting.

"Mrs. Malfoy," Hermione greeted stiffly. "Malfoy." Narcissa sent Draco a pointed look and he stood up, pulling out Hermione's chair for her. She muttered her thanks and sat.

"Now, Miss Granger, I expect you wonder why I asked to meet you here," Narcissa said formally. Hermione only could nod. "Well you see, Draco is my only son. And a wedding in a headmaster's office just won't do it. We are well known people, Miss Granger and it wouldn't do to have people talking about our lack of a wedding." Hermione didn't like the sound of where his was going.

"So are you saying that you want to plan an entire wedding in a week?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

"Goodness, no," Narcissa looked appalled. "What you will do is have Professor Dumbledore perform the official ceremony in his office on Wednesday, as planned, but you will have a real wedding later on."

"What I _will_ do?" Hermione repeated Narcissa's words angrily. "You can't tell me what to do. I will do whatever I please. You will not order me to do anything. I am doing this out of the goodness of my heart. Without me, your precious, only son would be dying in a couple days." Hermione stood up, about to leave when Narcissa dropped her hard demeanour and her face softened considerably.

"Please wait, Hermione. I'm sorry. I know that you aren't happy with this and I know that you are doing this out of the goodness of your heart, for which I thank you. But you are not a pure-blood. You do not understand how important these events are in our society."

"I may not be a pure blood, Mrs Malfoy, but I'm not the scum that people like you like to pretend I am. I do know enough about the wizarding world to get by. Just because I'm muggle-born, does _not _mean I'm clueless."

"I understand that, Miss Granger, but that does not change the fact that these celebrations are of utmost importance to keep our reputation."

Hermione knew that this could only end in disaster, but she finally nodded. "Fine. I will have a formal ceremony. But I will only do it if you abide by my wishes. First, I will be allowed to invite whoever I wish and they _will_ be treated with respect; no matter what their blood status is. Also, I would like to be informed of everything that happens in terms of planning. You can plan it, Mrs. Malfoy; just make sure there are no surprises. And lastly, I would not like it to be too big. Keep the guests to a minimum."

Narcissa frowned. "Naturally you would be informed of the plans, and I suppose I can stomach muggle and blood traitor guests, but I cannot have a small wedding. In our society, the parties must be large or you are accused of either having no money or not being a true pure blood. Both of those accusations, as you know, are quite false."

"Then I guess there's no formal wedding," Hermione said simply. She stood up and was immediately handed her coat by a restaurant staff member. She walked briskly to the apparation point and apparated straight to her parents' house.

She had already fixed her parents' memories and had filled them in on what had happened the year they had been in Australia without knowledge of their only daughter.

"Hermione?" He mother called, hearing the crack that announced her daughter's presence. She looked out of the kitchen and saw Hermione, sitting on the couch, shaking with anger.

"Hi, Mum," she said.

"Hermione, what's the matter?"

"Oh, mum, I'm sorry. It's a long story. Is dad around? I would rather tell you both at once."

"Of course, he's outside tinkering with his car. I'll get him." Hermione's mum left the room and returned a moment later with her husband.

"Hermione!" He cried. "How's my little ladybug?"

"Not great, Dad. I have something to tell you." Hermione told her parents about her marriage to Draco Malfoy as quickly as she possible could. "...and then I met his mother today and she's a complete cow. She expected me to just allow her to throw a pure blood wedding where nobody I know will be allowed to come. So I told her off."

"Sounds like you've got yourself into a bit of trouble, Ladybug." Her father said. "But didn't you say that Mrs Malfoy saved Harry's life?"

"Yes, but that doesn't stop her from being a complete—"

"Language, Hermione," her mother said.

"Sorry. I only really came here to tell you that I'm getting married to my enemy. And that I want you to be with me in Professor Dumbledore's office when it happens."

"Will that work? I mean, I thought that muggles couldn't get into Hogwarts." Hermione's mother said fretfully.

"Professor Dumbledore arranged it. It shouldn't be a problem."

"All right. Thank you for telling us, Hermione. I hope things work out with Narcissa."

"Thanks, mum. I should get back to The Burrow now. Everybody will be wondering where I am. I'll come and get you Wednesday morning. Bye."

"Bye, Ladybug." Hermione's father said, hugging his daughter.

"Goodbye, dear," her mother said, following her husband's lead.

Hermione nodded and apparated back to The Burrow.

"Hermione!" Harry cried as soon as she entered the room. "Where were you? Malfoy came looking for you. He said that he needed to talk to you. He's in the kitchen waiting for you."

"What?" Hermione asked. "Why?"

"I don't know. Just go. It's taking all of the brothers to keep Ron contained in his room. Ginny's with Malfoy. Go."

"Thanks, Harry." Hermione entered the kitchen to find Ginny and Malfoy sitting in silence. Ginny's fists were clenched and Malfoy looked awkward in his fancy robes and blonde hair with a slightly scared expression on his face. "Malfoy?" She asked.

"Granger." He greeted stiffly.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to talk to you." At this point, Ginny made a stealthy exit from the room, leaving the blonde and brunette alone.

"About...?"

"Not here. I know that everybody is listening at the door. Can we go outside?"

Hermione nodded and led him out the kitchen door and the pair began walking to the Orchard.

"So, listen, Granger. I know that you're upset about this wedding and everything, and I thank you for doing what you're doing for me, but I need you to agree to my mother's wedding. She's had a rough time recently. He husband is in Azkaban, her sister is dead—"

"Not _both_ of her sisters," Hermione interrupted. "She could easily reconcile with her sister who _wasn't_ evil."

"My mother's relationship with her sister is really none of your business, Granger. As I was saying, she lost her sister, most of her friends want as little contact with her as possible until she proves herself back to the wizarding world. And to the upper class wizards, proving yourself back is done by having an extravagant party. My mother simply feels that this would be an excellent way to do so."

"Did she ever think that I wasn't raised like that? Did she ever think about my wishes? Maybe I didn't want a big, extravagant wedding. Maybe I didn't want to get married at all! Now my freedom is being taken away from me. This is just another thing that your stupid master took away from me." To her horror, Hermione felt tears pricking at her eyes and she hastily wiped them away.

"He's not my master, Granger," Malfoy said quietly. "I hate him just as much as you do. Do you think that I want to get married either? Do you really think that I asked for this to happen? He took away my freedom too. So get over yourself, Granger. You're not the only one who's dreading this wedding." Malfoy finished, staring into Hermione's eyes, his own glinting with anger.

"Is that all you wanted to say, Malfoy?" Hermione asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Please reconsider your decision of the wedding my mother would like to plan. You can tell me of your decision on Wednesday when we meet in Dumbledore's office."

"Fine. Goodbye Malfoy," Hermione said stiffly. Malfoy apparated and Hermione headed back to the house alone.

"What did he want?"

"What did he say?"

"Did you argue?"

"Did he do anything to hurt you?"

Hermione was immediately ambushed by questions as soon as she entered the room. She sighed,

"No, Ron, he didn't hurt me. Yes, Bill, we argued. He basically told me to reconsider what I told his mother earlier today."

"What did you tell his mother? Was it something along the lines of go to hell you stupid—"

"Ronald Billius Weasley!" Mrs. Weasley cried. "If I hear that bad of language again I'll jinx your tongue to the roof of your mouth."

"Sorry, mum," Ron said, pretending to look ashamed. This simple thing, not really that funny, made Hermione burst into peals of laughter. Suddenly she couldn't stop and clutched her stomach. Harry was the next to join in and soon the entire Weasley family, including George, who hadn't even smiled since his twin had died, was laughing. Hermione wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes and everybody slowly quieted down.

"So what did you tell her?" Ginny asked.

"Oh, she wants some big, extravagant, over the top wedding. I told her no because I don't want to have to listen to those stupid rich, aristocratic women tell me how I'm not as good as them because I'm muggle born. If I have this wedding, I know that _my _guests, all my Muggle family and you, my wizard family, will not be treated with respect. She can't accept that I don't want one of those weddings."

"Well, Hermione, families like the Malfoys think of events like that in a much different way than middle class people do. They are all raised to believe that big weddings are necessary to keep up with the social scene. Think of it from Narcissa's point of view. She was told all of her life that you weren't a true pure blood if you didn't throw huge parties. That you didn't have very much money if you couldn't throw a huge, over the top party. For what it's worth, Hermione, I think you should just allow her to throw it." This came from Mrs. Weasley.

"Even though she's sure to not treat all of you with respect?"

"We can handle it for one day, Hermione," Arthur said.

"And we'll support you the whole way," said Charlie.

"I'll think about it," Hermione said. "Thank you." With that, she headed up to her bedroom to get a book in hopes of getting her mind off of her problems.

**Thanks for reading; please review! ;) **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four:**

**WOW! 1,403 hits, 11 favs and 34 alerts. THANK YOU! **

**Love and thanks sent out to: animeXfanXlover99, Loslote, edwardsoneandonlylove, linaeleanor22 and RavenEcho for reviewing. As usual, thanks to everybody who has favourite or alerted this fic too. **

**This is kind of a filler chapter, I know, but necessary to move the plot along. **

**Happy reading!**

Hermione enjoyed the next few days as best as she could. After much pondering, she decided to allow Narcissa Malfoy to throw her insane wedding.

Before she knew it, Wednesday morning was upon her. She was awoken by an overly cheerful Ginny who insisted on dressing her up and doing her hair and makeup. When Hermione asked why, Ginny simply answered,

"It's your wedding day. I know that it's only going to be you, Malfoy, Narcissa and your parents, but you still want to remember this day, look back and think, I looked _great_ on my wedding day." Hermione just sighed and allowed herself to be poked and prodded.

When Ginny was finished, Hermione had her usually bushy brown hair straightened and sleek. Her usually makeup-free face had different shades of neutral colours on it. She was dressed in a knee-length white spaghetti strapped dress with silver ballet flats. She looked beautiful.

"Wow," Ginny said when Hermione came out, fully dressed in the outfit Ginny had picked. "Malfoy is going to have a heart attack when he sees you."

"Thanks," said Hermione, blushing and tugging at the dress. She went down to the kitchen table at Ginny's insistence, even though she knew that she wouldn't be able to consume any of Molly's delicious cooking. She was too filled with dread.

"You look beautiful," Molly cried, hugging Hermione quickly as soon as she saw her.

"Thanks,"

Molly filled Hermione a plate and placed it in front of her. Hermione didn't eat it, but instead stared at it and poked it a bit with her fork.

"You have to eat, 'Mione," said Ron, his mouth full. "You'll feel better."

"Just because food makes _you _feelbetter about everything doesn't mean we all can solve our problems with it."

Ron just rolled his eyes and consumed yet another piece of toast.

Ten thirty came and Hermione groaned. "I have to go pick up my parents now. Wish me luck on the...ugh...wedding."

"Good luck!" The Weasley family chorused in unison. Hermione cracked a small smile and disapparated.

"Mum, Dad, I'm here," she called as she entered the house. She entered their bedroom to find her father dressed in a white button down shirt with a tie and dress pants, comforting her mother, who was frantically searching through her closet.

"Mum? What's the matter?" she asked.

"I have nothing to wear!" Her mother cried frantically.

"What's wrong with this?" Hermione pulled out a black skirt and a pink blouse.

"It's not exactly a mother of the bride outfit." Her mother said. "I have nothing appropriate for a mother of the bride."

"Mum," Hermione sighed. "It's just you, dad, Professor Dumbledore, Malfoy's mother, Malfoy and me. It doesn't matter what you wear. Just put that on." Her mother looked a bit uneasy as she put on the outfit.

"Perfect," Hugo declared. "Let's go. Hermione, are we...what's the word? Akkarating?"

"It's _apparating _dad," Hermione answered, rolling her eyes. "And yes, we are. I'm going to warn you that it will be uncomfortable. You'll feel a lot of pressure and you may vomit when you're done."

"Sounds fun," Her mother muttered sarcastically.

Nevertheless, her mother and father each took one of Hermione's arms and they disappeared with a loud crack, arriving a moment later in Hogsmeade village. The normally bustling village was quiet and empty. Everything was closed as they were still mourning for their extensive losses. The streets themselves were covered in bits and pieces of the Shrieking Shack and Hogwarts Castle. It looked so unlike what Hermione remembered, that she gasped upon entering.

"What?" Her father asked worriedly.

"Oh, I just wasn't prepared to see the village such a mess." Hermione said. "It's normally quite a nice village. It's usually hustling and bustling and cheery. I'm just not used to seeing the place so...dead."

"Is this Hogsmeade?" Her mother asked.

"Yes."

"Why did we come here?" Hugo asked. "Not there." He pointed to the castle up on the hill in the distance.

"We can't apparate straight into Hogwarts," Hermione explained. "It's too protected. The carriage that Professor Dumbledore sent should be arriving in a moment." Sure enough, a moment later, the carriage pulled by Thestrals arrived. Hermione touched the animal's nose softly before climbing into the carriage. Her parents looked bewildered but followed anyway.

"Er...Hermione, dear," Jean asked. "How is this carriage pulling itself?"

"Oh, it's not. I'm sorry, I should have explained. This is being pulled by a Thestral. Thestrals are only seen by people who have seen death. You both haven't seen death, so you can't see the Thestral."

"Really?" Hugo asked, fascinated. "But then..?"

Hermione's parents asked questions the whole way up to the castle. When they finally arrived at the gates, Hermione knew that her parents couldn't see the castle. They saw the ruin that had a _Do not enter: unstable_ sign. Hermione smiled at their confused expressions and continued through the gates. Suddenly, Hugo and Jean's faces changed from confusion to awe.

The castle was almost finished being re-built after the battle. The teachers and ministry combined had managed to use the most powerful magic they could to clean up the mess of a castle. The grounds were still disastrous; trees and rubble were scattered everywhere.

"It's still a mess from the battle," Hermione explained, gesturing to the mess. "But the castle is now pretty much intact. It'll be pretty messy in there, too. I promise I'll show you around when you come for my graduation this year."

"You're going back?" Her mother asked. "So soon after the war?"

"I have to, mum. I need to finish my education."

"But why don't you take a year to recuperate? Get back on your feet?"

"Because I want to go back. I want to get into the real world. The ministry will need more employees soon, as they have lost quite a few, not to mention he death eater ones."

Her parents didn't respond and instead they rode in silence until they got up to the castle's front doors.

They stepped into the entrance hall, which was dirty and dusty, and began their trip to Dumbledore's office.

"Miss Granger!" Hermione heard a voice from behind . "What are you doing here?" It was Professor Slughorn. Hermione sighed.

"Hello, Professor. I'm here for an appointment with Professor Dumbledore."

"I see. And these must be your parents."

"Yes sir. This is my mother, Jean, and my father, Hugo."

"Pleasure." Slughorn said in a jolly tone. "Anyways, I was planning on having one of my dinner parties on the first day of school this year. Would you be interested? Assuming you're coming back."

Hermione inwardly groaned. "Yes, I'm coming back. I'd be delighted, sir."

"Excellent. And Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley would be welcome to attend also."

"Thank you, Professor. I'd better be off, I'll be late for my appointment with the Headmaster.

"Of course, how silly of me to keep you. I'd best be off too, I need Blueberry Leaves picked at exactly eleven o' clock."

Slughorn turned and left Hermione and her parents behind them. Hermione's parents looked at her in explanation.

"My potions professor," she said in response to their unasked question. "He chooses favourites who are famous or talented and invited them to dinner parties in hopes of gaining more famous acquaintances. Harry, Ron and I defeated Voldemort so we are obviously invited." She made a face. "Except the parties are usually dreadfully dull and full of pompous prats."

As Hermione was explaining, they had arrived at the entrance to the Headmaster's office. "Bertie Botts," Hermione said, repeating the password that Dumbledore had written her. "Wizard candy," she explained.

They entered the large, circular room and found the Malfoys already there with Dumbledore.

"Ah, Hermione," the bearded Headmaster said. "Are you ready?" Hermione could only nod. "Very well. Let's begin."

**Review, please!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five****:**

**A/N: Thanks, as usual, to: Edwardsoneandonlylove, Loslote, Claudia, spikeecat, nature love 95, XxEvilMasterMindxX, ReadingIsAWESOME, bookdragon8, TheUltimateReader and xHELLLOx for your reviews and to everybody else who alerted or favourited. YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST! **

**bookdragon8: I like to leave that to your imagination ;). Maybe no other witch would take him...or maybe Dumbledore is just mischievous...or maybe she was the only one available on such short notice...or Lucius asked for her to help give the Malfoy name a better reputation...the possibilities are endless. Use your imagination!**

**Claudia: Thank you SO much. You didn't leave a signed review, so I couldn't reply, but I'm very glad you like it. I'm also happy that I may have started to convert you to Dramione. : )**

**So, this is one of my personal favourite chapters. : ) I had a lot of fun writing it. I hope you enjoy reading it too! :D**

"Do you, Hermione Jean Granger, take Draco Cygnus Malfoy to be your lawful wedded husband? To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer in sickness and in health? To love and to cherish from this day forward until death do you part?"

Hermione gulped. "I do." She looked towards her mother who smiled encouragingly while wiping the tears from her eyes. Dumbledore repeated the phrase to Malfoy who said "I do" very quickly.

"Excellent," Dumbledore said, smiling merrily. "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Both Hermione and Draco looked at Dumbledore, their eyes wide in horror. "Do I have to?" Malfoy finally asked.

"It finalizes the marriage," Dumbledore said, chuckling at Narcissa's horrified expression at her son's lack of dignity and Jean and Hugo's amused expressions.

Malfoy cringed and leaned forward, giving Hermione the quickest peck on the lips before pulling back and wincing. Hermione was wiping her lips and cringing. Dumbledore chuckled again.

"So that's it?" Hermione asked. "We're..._married_?"

Dumbledore smiled. "Yes."

"Well, I suppose we should get going," said Malfoy. "I'll show you where we will be sleeping. I'm sure you'll find the Manor to be quite comfortable."

"What?" Hermione asked. "Did you say the Manor?"

"Yes. It's traditional for the youngest Malfoy couple to live in Malfoy Manor," said Narcissa.

"No," said Hermione simply.

"You will do what is traditional," said Narcissa. "This is already an untraditional marriage. You will keep at least _some_ of it the proper Malfoy way."

"No. I refuse to live in a house where I was tortured by a crazy, lunatic woman, fought for my friends' and my life and watched a heroic little house elf die. I agreed to your stupid wedding. I will _not_ live there."

"It is in the process of being redone," said Narcissa. "You soon will not even recognize most of the rooms. People will talk if you do not live there."

"I couldn't care less what people think," Hermione said. "I'm NOT living there!"

"You will act as a proper Malfoy woman is expected to. You will live in the Manor and act like the pure-blood you are not."

That was a low blow. Hermione had been trying to fit in with this world since she learned about it when she was eleven. That was part of the reason she read so many books. She liked to be prepared. She liked to fit in. She didn't like being the outsider that she often felt like when she didn't know about something magical. Narcissa's words struck her hard in the chest and she swallowed.

"Fine. I'll live in your precious Manor. But don't expect me to EVER enter the drawing room or the cellar. Or even go near it for that matter."

Narcissa opened her mouth to argue but Malfoy interrupted quickly. "That's fine, Granger. You can stay in the library all day for all I care."

Hermione ignored him and hugged her mother and father. "I'll come visit you soon, I promise."

"All right, dear, I love you," Her mother said. She wiped the last of her tears away.

"Goodbye, Ladybug," her father said, smiling at his only daughter. Hermione let out a watery smile and went to stand beside her new husband and mother in law.

"We'll be flooing," Malfoy said. "Follow me." He stepped into the emerald green flames and said, "Malfoy Manor, my bedroom." He spun out of the fireplace and disappeared. Hermione followed suit and appeared in a large, grey room with a huge queen size bed covered with a green silk canopy. The bed had matching green sheets and pillowcases with a silver duvet. An entire wall was covered bottom to top with bookshelves, crammed full with books. Hermione wandered over there and began trailing her finger along the spines. There were wizarding novels and some of Hermione's favourite books including Hogwarts a History and the book she had read in her first year to discover the Philosopher's Stone.

"I thought you'd like that," Malfoy smirked. "If you think that's a lot, wait till you see the library. It rivals the Hogwarts one."

Hermione looked at him disbelievingly. He sighed and said, "Go to the end of this hall and take the flight of stairs up. The big, oak doors with the snakes on the doorknobs. Just be down for six o' clock. Mother wants to have dinner with you tonight in the dining room. It's three flights down from the library and down the hall. It's the fifth door on the right. Have fun."

Hermione looked at him suspiciously. Was he trying to get her lost in this maze he called a house? He sighed. "Do you want me to accompany you there since you obviously don't believe me?"

"No thanks," Hermione cringed at the thought of him accompanying her like she was a child. "I'll find it. It can't be _that_ big,"

"Oh, trust me, Grang—er...Malfoy," Hermione smirked at the name slip up. "I got lost in here up until I was about twelve. And I'm _still_ finding new passages every now and then."

Hermione was speechless. "Whatever. See you, Malfoy." She turned and exited the room. She wandered up the cold stone hallway. There were crystal chandeliers like the one Dobby had broken on the ceiling. On the way to the library, Hermione counted ten doorways and five other hallways attached to the one she was in.

When she finally got to the end, she climbed the flight of stairs (fifty, she counted) and finally arrived at the room that Malfoy had described. She opened the heavy, oak doors and entered a room, about three times the size of the Hogwarts Great Hall, with bookshelves that reached from the floor to the ceiling. In one corner there was a large, ebony desk and in another was a cushy armchair, perfect for Hermione to read in. She was in shock. How could anybody as evil as the Malfoys have such a beautiful library? She eagerly walked over to the bookshelves and began to read.

Six o' clock came quickly, and Hermione couldn't even pretend that she didn't know the time because it was very hard to miss the huge grandfather clock at the front of the room. When the clock chimed six times, she sighed and made her way through the dreary, cold halls and into the dining room, where Narcissa and Malfoy were already sitting at the long, wooden table.

"Thank you for joining us, Hermione," she said stiffly. She was obviously still upset about how Hermione had treated her at _L'eau fantastique _and in Dumbledore's office.

"You're welcome," Hermione answered frostily.

They ate their dinner in silence, something, judging by the way Malfoy looked, was quite a common occurrence.

After dinner, Hermione decided to go exploring. She figured that this would hopefully give her a bit of a better knowledge of the area that she needed to stay away from to keep her sanity in this house.

She began by exploring the main floor. On this floor so far, she had found four bathrooms, two dining rooms, three ballrooms and two living rooms. Now she was down another new corridor. This one seemed vaguely familiar to her and she dreaded what she would find, but she pushed herself onwards. She opened a set of doors and entered the room she swore she would never enter again.

The drawing room looked exactly as it had when she was there with Harry and Ron. She could practically hear Bellatrix's screams. She swore that she could feel the pain of the deranged woman's knife on her throat. Hermione collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily and sobbing. This was where Dobby had been killed. This was the room that was the setting of her nightmares. She didn't know how long she lay on the floor before she heard a squeaking voice.

"Mrs Malfoy?" The house elf said. "Flipsy is worried. Is mistress all right?"

Hermione broke from her reverie. "I'm fine, thank you,"

"Is mistress sure? What can Flipsy get for mistress?"

"Can you possibly show me to my bedroom? I'm tired. What time is it, anyway?"

"Of course, mistress," Flipsy smiled eagerly. "It is nine o' clock, mistress. And follow Flipsy. She will show you to your room, Ma'am"

"You don't have to call me mistress and _please_ don't call me Mrs Malfoy. Call me Hermione." The elf frowned. "Flipsy is usually forbidden from calling people by their first names, Mistress. Flipsy will have to close her ears in the oven, miss."

"Oh, Flipsy, don't do that. Please, I give you permission to call me by my first name."

"All right Miss Hermione," said Flipsy, smiling ear to ear.

She showed Hermione to the bedroom. "Thank you," Hermione told the house elf. "Now go take a break. You look exhausted."

"Thank you, Miss Hermione. Flipsy likes you as a mistress."

Hermione smiled. "You're welcome. Now go before you collapse."

Flipsy beamed at Hermione and curtsied once more before disappearing with a loud crack.

Hermione sighed and dug through the bag that she had brought to find her pyjamas. She climbed into the large bed with the book she had taken from the library, and read.

She was still reading when Malfoy came in. He changed and climbed into bed next to Hermione. Hermione looked over.

"Well, since we obviously won't be doing what sharing a bed usually implies, I say that we do this,"

Hermione conjured several pillows and stacked them in-between the two people. "That is your side, this is mine. I stay on mine and you stay in yours."

"Fine with me Granger," Malfoy said. He turned off the lamp on his side and rolled over, Hermione following his lead.

_She felt the searing pain of the knife against her throat. She felt the tears overflowing from her eyes, tears of pure fear. She was going to die and she knew it. _

"_Tell me the truth! Where did you get that sword?" Bellatrix was screeching in Hermione's ear. She pressed the knife into Hermione's throat even further and Hermione could feel the blood seeping out. _

_Suddenly Harry and Ron were there and Hermione felt a surge of hope. Bellatrix cackled as she pressed the Dark Mark on her arm and Voldemort appeared. He pointed his wand on Harry and Ron and a jet of green light hit Ron and Harry both in the chest. Hermione began to scream as she watched her two best friends fall to the ground. _

"_Kill the mudblood, Bella," Voldemort said in his high, cruel voice. _

_Bellatrix laughed manically and raised her knife. Hermione screamed again. _

Suddenly she felt herself being shaken roughly as she thrashed around. "Granger, Granger, wake up. Wake up!"

Hermione opened he eyes and saw a messy-haired Draco Malfoy over her face, a look of terror on his face. The pillow barrier she had made was scattered all over and the sheets were tangled all around her body. "What's the matter with you?"

"Nightmare, sorry," Hermione answered.

"About what?"

"Why do you care?"

"Because I'm curious to know what could scare _you_, Granger,"

"Fine, if you must know, it was about your aunt in the Drawing Room here. Voldemort killed Harry and Ron and she was about to kill me."

"Really? That incident had that bad of an effect on you?"

"Yes. We lost a good house elf that day. Not to mention I would have died if Dobby hadn't shown up. Of _course_ it had that effect on me."

"Oh, I wasn't aware. Well, goodnight, Granger." Malfoy rolled over and went back to sleep. Hermione tried to follow, but couldn't sleep. She was scared of having another nightmare. Finally she got up and headed to the Library, the room in the house that was already her favourite. She picked up a book and read until dawn.

**Did you like it? Hate it? Let me know!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six:**

**Love to: bookdragon8, Skylan D. Water, TheUltimateReader, purplepoppy898, LameGuest19, XxEvilMasterMindxX, edwardsoneandonlylove, Loslote, monkey87, nature love 95, linaeleanor22, bigmommak, justanotherfaceinthecrowd, ReadingIsAWESOM, animeXfanXlover99 and RavenEcho.**

**To: RavenEcho and animeXfanXlover99: It's all right, you don't need to review every chapter, and you've been super faithful to this fic. So thank you :) **

**To ReadingIsAWESOME: I thought about that after I posted it. My explanation for that there's a loophole in it that Voldy didn't think about. If they BOTH tried to sleep, than the curse would take effect, however if one of them is awake, then the other can still sleep. Sorry about that, I didn't really think. :P **

**I wasn't to especially thank everybody who's been with this fic from the start and still kept with it. You guys ROCK! This chapter is dedicated to you! **

**Okay, I'm updating early because...wait for it...I HAVE NO HOMEWORK! :D :D :D :D :D And because I'm in such a good mood, I needed to update and share my good mood with my readers. Also, I changed my mind, I think this is my favourite chapter : ) I love the Draco you'll see in it. Anyways, enough looonng A/Ns, on with the fic!**

**P.S. Sorry about that double post, I forgot to add something to my A/N :P **

The next several weeks passed with surprising ease. Hermione spent all of her time either in the Library, at her parent's or at The Burrow with the Weasleys. The only time she had with the Malfoys was at dinner, mostly in silence, with the occasional fact about the wedding from Narcissa, and bed with Malfoy, also spent in silence. Thankfully, Hermione didn't have any more nightmares.

One day as they were eating their chicken parmesan in silence as usual, Narcissa cleared her throat.

"Ahem, Hermione. Your first dress fitting will be Friday morning. You will also need to bring your maid of honour and bridesmaids. You will need to have two bridesmaids and a maid of honour in order to keep the party even. I also have the guest list for our side; you may look over it as is your desire. You will need to add your side to the list and I will mail out the invitations."

"Okay," Hermione nodded. "But why is the dress fitting so early?"

"It's never too early to start."

"But the Wedding isn't until May, eleven months from now."

"As I just said, we must start early."

"How do you know I won't gain or lose weight before then?"

"You will not," Narcissa's tone had a bit of threat in it.

Hermione wanted to argue with the older woman, but she knew it would do no good. Narcissa always got what she wanted.

After dinner, Hermione decided to explore the upstairs floors. She now knew to stay well away from the main floor as much as possible. She walked down the hall past where her bedroom was. She passed five guest bedrooms, three studies and a small living room before coming across a large, oak door. Curious, she opened the door and found a large bedroom with a bed identical to the one in her room except perhaps a bit smaller. There was an ebony desk matching the one in the library and a small bookshelf. There was also a couch that matched the bed. There were posters of Quidditch players and wizard singers adorning the walls. Hermione recognized a few of them from the walls of Ginny's bedroom.

On the bed was Draco Malfoy, looking at a photo album. He was crying.

"Malfoy?" she asked.

"Granger," he said, "Go away."

"Are you crying?" Hermione asked, coming forward.

"No," he answered, wiping his eyes with a handkerchief. "Leave me alone."

"Why are you crying?"

"I said leave me alone! Go away! NOW!" He roared.

Hermione looked at him in shock. She left quickly for fear of what he might do to her if she stayed.

That evening as they were both lying in bed, Draco said, "Listen, I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have yelled."

"It's all right. I shouldn't have been so nosy."

"Do you still want to know?"

"I...only if you want to tell me."

"Okay, follow me."

He got out of bed, put on his housecoat and slippers and waited patiently for Hermione to do the same. She did the same and followed him down the dark, cold, stone corridor hesitantly. They walked down to the room they had been in earlier.

"This is my old bedroom," he said. He took a book off the bookshelf and sat on the bed. He patted the spot next to him, gesturing for Hermione to sit down. When she didn't he sighed. "Come on, I won't bite." Hermione sat gently on the edge of the bed, as though she might need a quick getaway. "Get comfortable," he advised. "It's a long story."

She tentatively moved into a more comfortable position. He opened the book which Hermione now saw was a photo album. The cover said _Draco _in script, with a picture of a dragon on the front. The first page was a photo of Lucius Malfoy holding a newborn infant. He didn't have the arrogant expression on his face that Hermione usually associated with Lucius, but instead had a look of happiness on his face. "Is that you?" Hermione asked softly.

"Yes," he said. "That's my father holding me on the day I was born. He wasn't always a bad father." He flipped the page a few time past more baby photos. Hermione was surprised. She hadn't expected people like the Malfoys to keep baby photos. On the next page he stopped at, Hermione saw a picture of a little, blonde toddler. He was standing in front of the Malfoy family tree next to Lucius. The toddler was beaming and staring up at his father.

"I idolized him, even from the beginning," said Draco angrily, staring at his two-year-old self.

"You were cute," Hermione said.

"Thank you." He flipped a few more pages and stopped at a photo of a trio of boys, around five or six. "That's Crabbe," he pointed to one of the boys, "Goyle," he pointed to the other brunette boy. "And me." He pointed to the blonde boy in the middle. He was smirking. "They were my best friends."

Slowly, Draco flipped through more photos. There was several more of Draco with his father: riding his first broomstick, shopping in Diagon Alley, opening birthday presents. There were photos of him with his mother and more of him with Crabbe, Goyle and a few with Blaise Zabini. The last photo in the album was of Draco at about age fourteen with his father. They had identical smirks and were both facing the camera with their arms crossed.

"He was a good father," Draco said softly. "I looked up to him. He was hard on me, but all pure-blood parents are. I still loved him and I know that deep down, he loved me too. Just because he didn't express it like some parents, didn't mean he didn't still love me and my mother. Even when he was doing Death Eater things...evil things, I looked up to him. To me, he could do no wrong. Then the same year that this photo was taken, You-Know-Who came back. He changed my father. He made my father do terrible things, things that made him go from the man who had raised me, the man I knew, to a monster. He was a stranger."

Draco glared at the picture. "But despite all of that, I still idolized him. I figured that The Dark Lord was doing the right thing because my father did all those things for him. I trusted my father's judgement. Then he got caught at the ministry and got arrested. I was upset, naturally, but decided to blame Potter instead of The Dark Lord. The summer came. The Dark Lord came to our house and demanded to see me. He told me that I had been chosen for an important task—that I should be honoured to have been chosen to kill Dumbledore. He branded me with this," Draco rolled up his sleeve to show her the Dark Mark. "My mother knew that it was just revenge for my father losing the prophecy. She tried to tell me so when The Dark Lord was gone, but I didn't listen to her. I hoped that I could make my father proud when he escaped Azkaban. I hoped he would praise me for my actions. I wanted to be like him." Draco spat that last part.

"Then that evening came. I was all prepared for it. I got Madam Rosmerta's message and went immediately to the Room of Requirement. I remember shaking the whole time. The Death Eaters came and began to fight the order—your people. I snuck away to the astronomy tower where I met Dumbledore. I didn't want to kill him, I really didn't. I knew I had to or You-Know-Who would kill me. I didn't know what to do. I looked into the old man's face and I knew that I couldn't kill him. Then Snape came and got me. We ran away and let Dumbledore get away. I was a coward. I really was. But I was scared. I didn't think I had any other options." He stopped for a moment, and took a deep, shaky breath. Hermione could only watch in silence.

"I went home and found that my father was out of Azkaban. He looked different. His usually extremely well kept hair was tangled and his face was sunken in. It was horrifying to see my idol so weak. I knew then that I shouldn't look up to him anymore. But it was too late. I already had to do what he and The Dark Lord said or I would die. I don't think father would have even had a problem killing me by then, he was so far in.

"That summer was torture. You-Know-Who was staying in the manor. We always had to be on our toes. I watched him torture and kill our house elves because he was bored. He had Bellatrix teach me the unforgiveable curses again as I 'obviously wasn't very skilled at them due to my inability to kill Dumbledore'," Draco imitated Voldemort. "Finally, thank goodness, I was allowed to go back to Hogwarts. Dumbledore was in hiding and our people took over the castle. It wasn't great, but it was better than living at home. The Carrows and Snape mostly left me alone and I stuck with Crabbe and Goyle as much as I could. Then, Easter came. I had to go home by father's orders, plus mother wanted to see me. She was very protective of me. She still is, as a matter of fact. Greyback showed up with you, Potter and Weasley. I had to identify you. I didn't know what to do. My father was the happiest I had seen him in over a year. I wanted to please my father, but I didn't want to give you three away. You were my only hope that You-Know-Who could be defeated. You got away, in the end, and left me with this," He pointed to a scar across his cheek.

"Sorry," Hermione murmured.

"It's not your fault. So I went back to school after you guys got away. I was secretly happy, but I had to watch my father's anger, something that was beginning to become even more unbearable. He tortured the elves for the sake of taking out his anger. I was glad to get back to school. Then a month later, the battle came. I was terrified not only for my own life, but for my father's too. Potter defeated The Dark Lord and my father was one of the first to be rounded up and sent to Azkaban. And you know what happened after that." His tears were falling now. "I can't believe I ever idolized him. The man who I aimed to be like for all of my childhood is rotting away in Azkaban. The worst thing about this is, though, that I still love him. Despite everything, I still love my father and he doesn't love me."

Draco finished his story and Hermione sat in silence, her own tears falling down her face.

"I never really thought about it from the Death Eater perspective," she said softly. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. But I think you're wrong about him not loving you. When I was here at Easter," They both cringed at the memory, "And he heard Dobby apparating, he was going to send you down to check, but then changed his mind and sent Wormtail. He obviously cared about you enough to make sure that you weren't hurt by whoever was in the cellar. Then, more recently, he threw such a fit in Azkaban because he wanted to make sure that you got married so you wouldn't die. If he didn't care about you, why wouldn't he just let you die?"

Draco just shrugged. "I suppose you're right."

"Thank you for telling me this," Hermione said. "You didn't have to."

"I know, but you told me about your nightmare, so I thought it's only fair that you heard a bit about my life during the war. Plus, we're stuck together for life, we might as well know a bit about each other."

"That's true. And also, since as you said it, 'we're stuck together for life,' perhaps we should use first names. Because, technically speaking, I'm not Granger anymore and two Malfoys just gets terribly confusing. You can call me Hermione and I'll call you Draco." The name felt foreign on her tongue.

"All right...Hermione." Her name sounded strange coming from his mouth.

"Shall we go back to bed?" Hermione asked, yawning. They had talked for a long time.

"I think so." Draco got up and headed back to the room, Hermione following along in his wake. When they got to bed, Draco said,

"Thank you for listening, Hermione. I needed to tell that to somebody."

"You're welcome. Goodnight, Draco."

Hermione climbed into bed beside Draco and fell asleep quickly.

**Review? **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thanks to: Edwardsoneandonlylove, Loslote, AveryClaire, nature love 95, RavenEcho, XxEvilMasterMindxX, IheartDracoandRon, ReadingIsAWESOME, linaeleanor22, LIZIES and Skylan D Water for reviewing. I've reached the over fifty mark! :D My new goal is a hundred reviews. Thanks, as usual to those who favourited and alerted too. : ) **

**So, I'm not particularly fond of this chapter, but it's going to introduce a new event to happen...exciting! Enjoy! **

**Chapter Seven:**

They didn't sleep through the whole night. Hermione was awoken in the middle of the night by Draco's kicking, tossing and turning. His hair was damp with sweat and his face was covered in tears. "No," he was muttering, "Don't hurt me. No!" He rolled around and kicked some more before Hermione reached over and touched his shoulder softly. He didn't wake up but stopped rolling around. "No," he muttered. "Stop it, please!" His eyes were open, but Hermione knew he wasn't really awake. She knew that he was dreaming about Voldemort. She had seen Harry in the middle of a nightmare about this and hoped that the same tricks would work. She rubbed small circles on his back with her hands and whispered, "Shh, it's all right, shh." He leaned in towards her and she continued soothing him. He closed his eyes again and went back into sleep, this time more quietly. He rolled close to Hermione and she fell asleep with her head next to his chest, her arm still draped over him from her circles.

Hermione woke up the next morning in a pair of strong arms. She looked up and saw Draco, still sleeping, his arms wrapped around her. She didn't know how to unwrap herself without waking him up and was contemplating how to do so when he finally woke up. He took in his surroundings for a moment, realized what—or more specifically, _who_ was in his arms and let go quickly.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"That's all right. Did your sleep get better after your nightmare was over?"

"How did you know I had a nightmare?"

"You were tossing and turning and muttering in your sleep."

"Oh, did I keep you awake?"

"Not for long. I have experience with nightmares like that so I knew what to do. Once I started soothing you, you were fine.

"Soothing?"

"You know, telling you that it's okay, rubbing circles on your back. You don't mind, do you?"

"No, actually...that's the best sleep I've had in a while. Thanks Grang—Hermione."

"You're welcome. Shall we go get breakfast?" Hermione's stomach growled. Draco obviously heard it and smiled.

"I see you're hungry. Let's go." Together they walked to the kitchen.

Over the next few days, Draco and Hermione started to become tentative friends. Hermione discovered that he was second in the class next to her. She also discovered that he liked to read almost as much as she did and had lots of wizarding novel recommendations. They had many intellectual arguments, something either of them rarely got. Neither of them had friends who were very intellectual and enjoyed this type of thing. Today it was House Elf rights.

"They like being the servants of wizards!" Draco said from his armchair in the Library. Recently he had taken to joining Hermione up there.

"Only because they don't know any different," Hermione argued, "They're uneducated and don't know that punishing themselves for making mistakes is wrong."

"How is it wrong? Humans do it too. We get angry at ourselves for making mistakes."

"But we don't punish ourselves physically like they do. Even after Dobby was set free, if he so much as said something bad about your family he would try to punish himself. Their punishment goes beyond normal human punishment."

"Okay, I can see what you're saying, but that doesn't change the fact that they like working for wizards."

"If you educated them and taught them that they _weren't _automatically the slaves of wizards, I'm sure that some of them would start to see sense. They've been brainwashed for hundreds of years to believe that they are the slaves of wizards and nothing better. That they need to close their ears in the oven for going away for an evening; that they need to iron their hands for telling somebody of their master's plans—which, by the way, could kill somebody."

"But in that case, the elf should have kept his nose in his own business."

"But the plans were possibly going to kill somebody."

"It's still not the elf's business. He's just a servant."

"He was not just a servant! He was still a living creature with thoughts and feelings. House elves can do magic that even wizards can't do. They know when something is good or when it's bad. Take Dobby for instance, he knew that how he was treated was terrible, but couldn't do anything about it until Harry tricked your father into freeing him."

"If they're so smart then why haven't they done something about their treatment before now?"

"They're brainwashed! This treatment has been going on for so many years that they've given up all hope of ever being free from their treatment. And if they try, wizards just put them back in their place."

"Okay, so hypothetically speaking, let's say that the elves-"

Draco was interrupted by the loud crack of a house elf. "Pardon me, master, but Mistress Hermione wished Flipsy to come and get her at one o' clock to go to the Weasleys'."

"Thank you, Flipsy," Hermione said. "We'll continue this argument later, Draco." Hermione left to go to The Burrow.

She arrived to the tall, crooked building and smiled. It was so different from the Manor, but still felt much more like home. She walked in and was immediately ambushed by several big hugs.

"Hermione!" Ginny cried. "We haven't seen you in a couple of days. Was Malfoy absolutely horrid to you?"

Hermione laughed. "Actually no. We talked a lot. We're sort of...friends now."

"You WHAT?" They heard Ron's yell.

"Nice to see you too, Ronald," Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Did you say that you're _friends_ with that git?"

"Yes, I am. He's not that bad, Ron."

"Yes he is! He was a Death Eater, 'Mione!"

"Not by choice!" Hermione said angrily. "He told me his story. And you need to mind your own business."

"When my best friend is married to him it is my business!" Ron's face and ears were turning scarlet.

"You don't know the whole story! Stop making unfair accusations!"

Ron didn't respond but stormed off.

"What's Ron so angry about?" Harry asked, entering the room. "Hi, 'Mione."

"He's angry at me because I'm kind of getting along with Malfoy now."

"You are?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Hermione said defensively. "I am. He told me his story and I have made my own judgements. I think he really does feel guilty about what happened in the war."

"I can't believe you're friends with him!" Harry cried.

"Are you going to get angry like Ron too then, Harry?" Hermione asked angrily. "Because it's none of your business and you two are not the bosses of me. I am allowed to befriend whoever I wish, especially my own husband!" She stalked off angrily to the kitchen where she met Mrs. Weasley.

"Hello, Hermione, dear. I heard your news. I, for one, am glad that you're getting along with him. Don't worry about Harry and Ron. They'll come around. And if they don't, I'll make them." She picked up a wooden spoon. Hermione giggled at the idea of Molly's wrath. Suddenly a flurry of movement entered the kitchen in the form of Ginny.

"Hermione! Don't listen to them!" She cried. "I'm happy for you. Don't worry, Harry is going to regret how rude he was to you," Ginny had a mischievous grin on her face. "As for Ron...mum can deal with him, can't you, mum?"

"Of course, Ginny." Molly had a similar smile on her face. "Why don't you two go up to Ginny's room and catch up."

"All right, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said. "Thanks."

Hermione followed Ginny upstairs. When they arrived in Ginny's room, the redhead flopped onto her bed. "So," she said. "Spill."

"Spill what?"

"The story behind you and Malfoy."

"There's not much to tell. We talked, I learned about what life was like for _him _during the war, and now we're civil to each other."

"Like what?"

"That's not really my story to tell. Sorry, Gin."

"You're no fun," Ginny pouted.

"So you've said on countless occasions. But what's been happening here?"

"Nothing really. Oh! Guess what Fleur did?"

The conversation continued easily until dinner came. Hermione sat at the table next to George and Ginny and across from Ron. Harry was beside Ron and across from Ginny. Ron was glaring at Hermione but Harry was looking at her sheepishly as though he felt guilty about earlier. Ginny, however, was glaring at him. Molly served them their food and Harry said,

"Listen, Hermione, I'm sorry about earlier. I overreacted. I'm glad that you're not miserable with him anymore." Harry's green eyes were truthful as he looked into her brown ones.

"Thank you, Harry."

Harry smiled and resumed consuming his meal while Ron scowled.

"I was thinking, Hermione," said Molly. "Perhaps we should invite him here for dinner." The entire table went silent. "What?" she asked defensively. "Perhaps you all will see what Hermione sees in him."

"He's not coming here," Ron said.

"It's not up to you, Ronald," Molly said dangerously. "This is my house."

"I think it's a great idea, Molly," said Arthur finally.

"I'll try to get him here," Hermione said, "But I'm not sure if he'll agree. You all know about the feud between the Weasleys and the Malfoys for generations."

"You can try," said Molly.

"Okay," Hermione agreed."I'll try."

"Excellent. Now dig in, I didn't cook this meal so it could go to waste!"

The conversation changed then, thankfully, and Hermione ate her dinner in peace.

"Hello," Draco said when Hermione entered their room when she got home. "Have a good dinner?"

"Yes. Ron and I argued, though." Hermione frowned.

"Oh," Draco made a face at the mention of Ron's name. "What about?"

"I told them that we were kind of getting along now and he went crazy. He just can't accept that you're not as bad as he thinks."

"Oh. I've never understood what you saw in the Weasel anyway."

"He's my friend, Draco! And they're wonderful people. They are my wizarding family. Molly invited you to dinner at The Burrow. Even though she knows that it would only end in disaster. I want you to come. It could be a good way for you to work out your problems with the boys."

"Why would I want to do that? I enjoy hating them."

"But I don't enjoy it, Draco! They're my wizard family and I'm married to you. It's important to me that you get along."

"Well I'm not going over to the Weasley shack. End of discussion."

"Fine," Hermione huffed. She turned away from Draco and crawled into bed, turning off the light beside her. She closed her eyes but couldn't get to sleep. She wished that Draco and the Weasleys could get along. But Draco was just so stubborn. She didn't know why she had ever thought he had changed. He was still the annoying, immature, prejudiced boy she knew. Suddenly, to her annoyance, her tears leaked out of her eyes and onto the pillow. She sniffed and wiped them away.

"Are you crying?" he asked her.

"Maybe," she said. "Just leave me alone, Malfoy."

"Oh, so we're back to last names now, are we?" Hermione ignored him. "Oh, I see how it is. The silent treatment." Hermione ignored him again. "I didn't mean to make you cry. I thought you'd understand that going to the Weasley home is out of the question."

"And why?" Hermione asked angrily. "Why is it out of the question? What is your reason for hating them so much?"

"They're Weasleys and I'm a Malfoy," he said simply.

"That's not a reason! You only hate each other so much because it's been like that for generations! And when I come along and ask for you to just EAT together, you immediately reject it. You don't even know what they're really like. You just know what your family has told you and what they've done to you at school. And you know they only did that because of what you said first. Don't you remember? On the first ever train ride to Hogwarts the first thing that came out of your mouth was something about how your family was better than the Weasleys. You didn't even TRY to break the stereotypical feud between the two families."

"I was only eleven! What was I supposed to say? 'I'm going to break the hundreds of years of hatred to try and befriend the people my father told me to stay away from'? Merlin, Hermione. Hundreds of years of arguing can't be solved with one dinner."

"Why not?"

"Because...it just...can't!"

"See! You don't even have a good reason. You're just too selfish to try and do something for somebody else. I don't know how I ever thought that you were changed from the selfish, arrogant little eleven-year-old that I met on my first day of Hogwarts." Hermione got up, took a pillow and conjured up a blanket. "I'm not sleeping here tonight." She said. She moved to the couch on the other side of the room and made herself a bed. She climbed in and lay down, letting her tears make her pillow wet.

Several minutes later, the pain began. It started out just like pins and needles in her feet, but slowly grew into what felt like severe stabbing in her legs. The pain moved up to her stomach and chest. Inside she felt like she was on fire. It was almost as bad as when she had the cruciatus curse placed on her. She knew what this was. It was the curse. She had to sleep with Draco or she would be in severe pain. She heard Draco cry out in pain from across the room. He was feeling it too. He got up and came over, sitting on the couch with her. The pain stopped.

"Come back to bed," he said softly.

"No," she said stubbornly. "Leave me alone. I don't want to talk to you."

"If you want to sleep tonight, you're going to have to come back to bed."

"I just won't sleep then," she said. "I thought I told you to leave me alone."

"I'm not going to let you stay up all night because you can't sleep for fear of being in pain."

"Then you stay up. Just leave me alone!"

"No. Come back to bed."

"I said no, Malfoy. I also said to go away!"

"And I said I'm not going. Why is this so upsetting to you, anyway? You had to have known I would never agree."

"I know, but I don't understand. You have no reason to hate each other."

"I know, but we can't change things."

"Just go and try. If you try...and I mean really try, and you can't then I'll stop pushing you to try to fix this."

Draco sighed. "Fine. I'll go. But don't expect anything to change."

"Thank you!" Hermione cried. "You don't know how much this means to me!" She threw her arms around Draco's neck.

"Okay," he said, prying her off of his neck. "You're welcome. Can we go to bed now?"

Hermione smiled. "Yes."

**Ooh, now you've got THAT to look forward too...:D Leave a review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**As usual, thanks to Kathyjo, writergirl85, edwardsoneandonlylove, Erica, RavenEcho, Chellesmere, Nicolette Black, Skylan D. Water, nature love 95, maturelyimmature, IheartDracoandRon, BonnieSparrow, bookdragon8, ReadingIsAWESOME for reviewing and to everybody else for your favourites and/or alerts. **

**BonnieSparrow: I explained this a few chapters ago, but I'll write it again. I really don't know why other than that I thought it would make a good story. But you can use your imagination to decide why. Maybe no other witch would take him...or maybe Dumbledore is just mischievous...or maybe she was the only one available on such short notice...or Lucius asked for her to help give the Malfoy name a better reputation...the possibilities are endless. Use your imagination!**

**To: RavenEcho, Don't worry, Arthur will show up next chapter a bit...not much, but a little bit. : ) **

**Also, Sorry for the late update, but I was at my cottage (where there's no internet) for Thanksgiving (I'm Canadian :P. We celebrate thanksgiving at a different time than Americans). So, Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to you all, here's another chapter! : )**

**Chapter Eight**

Hermione told Molly that Draco had agreed the next day. They made dinner plans for the next week.

Over that period of time, Hermione gave Draco a list of things he was and wasn't allowed to talk about. She did the same for all of the Weasleys, excluding Molly and Arthur. Bill, Charlie and Percy weren't going to be there, something which Hermione was quite grateful for.

Finally, the day was upon them. Hermione was all ready to go but still nervous. She paced the room while waiting for Draco to finish getting ready. He came out of the bathroom and grabbed her arm.

"Stop it. You'll indent footprints in the floor. It will be fine. You have us all well prepared."

"I know, but I don't trust you."

"Me? I'll be perfectly polite. It's Weasley you have to worry about."

"See! Right there. That's why I'm worried. I hope that this isn't going to just make things worse."

"Well, if it didn't, you tried."

"Oh thanks," Hermione said sarcastically. "That's helpful. Are you ready to go?" Draco nodded. "Okay, let's go."

They apparated away to The Burrow where they were met outside by Molly. She hugged Hermione and shook Draco's hand before saying,

"Welcome. Come inside."

Hermione noticed that the place was sparkling. She hadn't seen it so clean since Bill and Fleur's wedding. She supposed that Molly had been tense all week. This wasn't good for Ron's mood.

"Hello, everybody," Hermione called.

"Hey, Hermione," Ginny said. "Malfoy," she greeted the blonde.

"Weaslet—Ginny," he corrected himself.

"Hello," Arthur said, coming up behind Ginny, who was smiling in a rather forced way. "I'm Arthur Weasley. I don't think we've been introduced formally." His words reminded everybody in the room of the time Arthur got into a fight with Lucius in Flourish and Blotts.

"No, I don't think we have. Draco Malfoy," Draco said politely, shaking Arthur's hand.

"Pleasure," said Arthur.

There was an uncomfortable silence until Molly called, "Come and eat!"

They all headed to the kitchen where a feast of Molly's cooking was waiting. Harry and Ron were already seated side by side. Hermione sat across from them. Draco was on her left and Ginny on her right. Beside Harry was George. On each end of the table were Molly and Arthur. All three boys across from Hermione were glaring at Draco. She looked over and saw him looking determinedly at his plate.

"Dig in," Molly ordered. "Would you like potatoes, Draco?" She scooped some onto his plate.

The group ate in an uncomfortable silence until George stood up and left the table halfway through the meal without explanation. Molly sighed,

"He hasn't been right since his twin died in the battle."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Draco said,

"No you're not," said Ron angrily. "It was your people who did it! It was you and your pals who killed my brother and as good as killed the other. It was your family who killed Remus and Tonks, leaving little Teddy Lupin with no parents. It was your friends who killed Colin Creevey and Fred and left Lavender Brown's face scarred for life and—"

"Ronald!" Hermione interrupted.

"No, Hermione," said Draco "Let him continue. He's right. I know I was part of the Death Eaters, Weasley, but it wasn't by choice. What would you have done if You-Know-Who was staying at your home, demanding that you join his cause or else he'll kill you? I didn't want to join him. I'm sorry that they killed your brother and Colin Creevey and Lupin and Tonks. You don't know how much I wish that You-Know-Who had never come back. He hasn't just ruined _your _life, you know. I hated him just as much as you did, probably more. Because of him one of my best friends is dead, my father is rotting away in prison, and I have this," he rolled up his sleeve and showed off his dark mark.

The room was silent. Ginny opened her mouth to say something but then closed it. Ron glowered at Draco and stormed off. Harry stared at Draco for a moment before saying,

"I...I never really thought about it like that. I mean, that the Death Eaters suffered losses too. I'm sorry Malfoy. We were really awful to each other at Hogwarts, weren't we? Do you think we can just forget about everything that happened at school and just start over?"

Hermione held her breath.

"All right," Draco finally said. Molly and Hermione both let out a loud sigh of relief. "I apologize for some of the things I said, Potter."

"It's all right," said Harry.

Hermione smiled as she locked eyes with an also smiling Ginny. Things weren't going as she had hoped but they were having almost the same effect that Hermione wanted. "Thank you," she whispered to Draco.

He nodded softly and took a bite of roast beef.

The rest of the night passed somewhat uncomfortably but not to the extent it was before. Ron and George did not return but Molly and Arthur relaxed a little bit and made small talk, along with Harry and Ginny. Finally, it was time to go.

"Thank you for dinner, Mrs. Weasley," Draco said. "It was delicious."

"Oh, you're quite welcome, dear. Come back again." Molly hugged Hermione and shook Draco's hand again.

Hermione said her goodbyes and apparated back to the manor.

Nothing of interest happened the following week. Hermione went to The Burrow several times, but it was awkward. George and Ron wouldn't speak to her. Ginny and Harry had both tried to get them to see sense, but they wouldn't budge.

The Thursday following the dinner at The Burrow, Hermione had a dress fitting in Diagon Alley. She was expected to bring her maid of honour and bridesmaids again. Ginny was her maid of honour, naturally, and she chose Luna and her cousin Melissa to be her bridesmaids. Melissa was the cousin that Hermione was the closest to. She was born only eight days after Hermione and, although she was a muggle, she and her family knew about Hermione's world.

"Wow, Hermione," Melissa said at the dress fitting. "These are gorgeous dresses."

"I know," Hermione answered. "Narcissa may not be very nice, but she does have exquisite taste in clothing." Narcissa was coming later to supervise the seamstress that was making the dresses.

"Here you are, dear," the seamstress said to Hermione, handing her a big, bag with the dress in it. "Put this on, please."

Hermione nodded and headed to the change room. She took the dress off its hanger and put it on. It was white, obviously, and clung very close to her body, hugging all her right curves. There was tiny beading around the neckline and train, which dragged along behind her gracefully as she walked. It was the perfect dress for Hermione. It was plain but elegant all at the same time. The only problem was that it was too long. She went back into the room where Luna, Ginny, Melissa and the seamstress were all waiting. They all looked over at her and their jaws dropped.

Ginny was the first one to speak. "Wow, Hermione. You look...wow."

Hermione smiled. "Thanks. Like I said before, she may not be very friendly, but she can pick out clothes."

"I can't believe my almost twin is getting married!" Melissa cried all of a sudden.

"Technically, Mel, I already got married. This is just something that Narcissa is forcing me to do."

"I know, but things will be so..._different _now. You'll come to family functions with your _husband _and do all the married couple things, instead of sitting in the basement making fun of Great Aunt Gertrude."

Hermione laughed. "No, Mel, don't worry. I'll still sit in the basement and make fun of Aunt Gertrude with you. And I doubt Draco will even come to any of the family functions."

"Why not?"

"Well, he hates...or used to hate muggles. And you know how our family is entirely muggle."

Suddenly the door in the shop opened and in strode Narcissa Malfoy. She glanced over at the bridesmaids and said, "Tighten the chest area on this one," she pointed to Luna. She walked over to where Hermione was standing. "Shorten it and make the train shorter. And where is the veil that goes with it?"

"It's in the back, Mrs. Malfoy," the seamstress squeaked.

"Well go get it for god's sake, are you people completely incapable of doing things right?"

"Right away, Mrs. Malfoy."

The seamstress hurried out of the room and Narcissa said, "Excellent. Now, as long as you don't gain or lose weight, your dress should be ready. You will not need to come for any more fittings until about a month before the wedding."

"Hallelujah," Mel muttered under her breath. Narcissa looked at Melissa and her nose wrinkled as though she smelled something foul. The seamstress then came back, a veil in her hands. She pinned it into Hermione's hair.

"That will do," said Narcissa. "Now take off the dress before you ruin it."

Hermione scowled at the older woman before stalking off to the change room.

She took off the dress and put it back on the hanger. She handed it to the waiting seamstress and said, "Thank you. The dress is beautiful."

"You're welcome," said the seamstress. Hermione saw Melissa, Ginny and Luna waiting at the door. She hurried over to them and all three of them stepped out into the street. Suddenly Hermione felt herself being grabbed roughly. She heard Ginny, Luna and Mel scream before she felt herself being apparated away. Then, everything was black.

**Ooh, a cliff hanger! Review, please! :D **


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks to: Dreadfuldelights, Skylan D. Water, RavenEcho, edwardsoneandonlylove, XxEvilMasterMindxX, Kasseraandra, Loslote, Melly, xxScarlettRavenInkxx, AveryClaire, Mimpy, AddictedToBooks08, IheartDracoandRon, nature love 95, and writergirl85 and everybody else who alerted and/or favourited.

**Special shout out to ****Mimpy****, who was my HUNDREDTH reviewer. I can't believe I made it to a HUNDRED reviews! I'm thrilled : ) **

**RavenEcho: Thanks for reviewing, first of all. Second, usually I don't like a lot of OCs either, but this one I added more just to make it fit in my brain. While you may think it's not necessary, it was important for me to keep my thoughts in a little bit of order. I know, it makes no sense :P. Plus, I try to put a little bit of my own life in my fics because that makes them more fun to write and I have a cousin like Melissa. So basically, while the OC isn't important to the reader, she helps me with writing my fics. **

**So here's the next chapter. Sorry it's a bit later than usual, I've been super busy with school, band, dance, family etc. I'll try to update as soon as I can. : ) Enjoy!**

**Chapter Nine:**

Hermione woke up on something cold and hard. She opened her eyes and saw that she was in a dark, cold room. The walls were all stone and when she tried to open the door it was locked. She looked at herself. Her clothes were ripped and tattered and her hair was dirty from the floor. She remembered being grabbed in Diagon Alley and apparated away, but couldn't remember who it was that had grabbed her.

Suddenly she heard voices coming from outside her cell. "I told you, Travers, we can't kill her until she tells us where Potter is," said a deep, growly voice.

"But then we can kill her, right?" Another voice, higher, but menacing all the same said.

"Yes," the first voice sighed. "Then you can kill her."

Hermione heard keys jingling outside her cell and heard the door swing open. In the doorway was a tall man with a deep, red scar across his cheek.

"Get up," he ordered her.

"Who are you?" Hermione asked.

"Don't speak unless we tell you to," the man snapped. He had the low, growly voice that Hermione had heard. "Crucio." Hermione felt the searing pain of a thousand daggers plunging into her body and the burning inside. She screamed in pain and the man laughed. Hermione curled up in a ball on the floor and bit her lip, determined not to cry in front of this man.

"Stand up," the other man ordered. Hermione recognized him as Travers, the man she had met in Diagon Alley when she was disguised as Bellatrix. She stood up quickly, brushing the dirt off of her clothes.

"Where's Potter?" The first man asked.

"Why would I tell you?" Hermione answered angrily.

"Crucio!" Travers said and for the second time that day, Hermione felt the excruciating pain of the cruciatus curse. She screamed and the two men laughed.

"Tell us." Travers said menacingly.

"No," Hermione gritted her teeth, waiting for the pain. Instead Travers said,

"Feisty one, isn't she, Yaxley? No matter, we can always make her. Imperio!"

Hermione felt herself look over at Travers obediently. _Tell him, _said a little voice in her head. _Tell him where Harry is._

_Why would you do that? _Asked a different little voice in the back of her head, _They'll kill him. _

_Tell him!_

_No! _

"NO!" Hermione screamed. She fell to the floor again and began to shake.

"A strong one," Yaxley muttered. "Come Travers, we'll leave her in here for a while until she decides to tell us what we wish to know."

The two men left Hermione in the cell, lying on the floor and shivering. She heard the lock click and their footsteps getting softer and softer. When she was sure they were gone, Hermione let her tears fall freely. Soon her tears were uncontrolled sobs. She wondered where everybody was and if they knew where she was. Her room had no windows so she didn't know where she was, what time it was or even what day it was.

Hours passed with Hermione just sitting in her cell. She sat in silence, trying to listen for her captors. She hoped that they could give her a way to escape. But they didn't come. She sat up for more hours without a peep.

She was starting to get tired. She lay down on the cold, damp floor and closed her eyes, but then she felt the pain.

_The curse_, she thought bitterly. _I won't be able to sleep and neither will Draco. _

Hermione cursed under her breath.

* * *

Two days passed before Hermione heard the lock on her door turn.

"Have you had enough, mudblood?" Yaxley asked, pointing his wand at her. "Are you ready to tell us where your little friend is?"

Hermione shook her head.

"Still?" Travers murmured. "Have it your way then, crucio." Hermione curled into a ball on the floor as the pain overtook her. She couldn't think coherent thoughts and couldn't do anything but scream in agony. "Are you ready yet?" he asked as the pain subsided.

Hermione shook her head again. "No," she said, "I'm not telling you where Harry is."

"All right then," Yaxley said, "Back to solitary confinement, I suppose. Oh, I almost forgot." He snapped his fingers and a house elf entered the cell, carrying a glass of water and a piece of bread. "Eat this; we can't have you dying of starvation before you give us our answers."

The elf handed Hermione the bread and the water and hurried out of the room.

"We shall return soon and you _will _give us the answers," Travers said menacingly.

Hermione glared at the men and they laughed. Yaxley made sure to kick Hermione on his way out.

When they were gone, Hermione ate the piece of stale bread hungrily. She downed the glass of water in one go and then stared longingly at the cup, wishing that it would refill.

* * *

More time passed. She had no idea how long she had been in this cell. Hermione had lost all hope of being rescued. She knew that she was going to die in this cell. She missed Harry and the Weasleys and even, surprising herself when she thought about it, she missed Draco. She wondered what had happened to Mel, Luna and Ginny. Were they okay? Was Harry looking for her yet? Was Draco okay? He wasn't sleeping, she knew that. Was he worried about her? Was Narcissa thrilled that Hermione was out of the picture? _Probably_, she thought bitterly, _she hated me from the start._ Hermione longed for a book to read, just to get her mind off of her thoughts.

Suddenly she heard voices.

"We can't kill her, Travers. We just need to find a way to get the information."

"Every moment we keep her alive gives Potter more time to find her. He's trying hard, too. He has posters up everywhere; her picture has been on the front page of _The Prophet _for a week now. He's got the entire Auror department looking for the girl. Not to mention they know that it's us. The Lovegood girl, the Weasley girl and the muggle saw us take her. If they find us before the girl is dead..."

"No!" Yaxley cried. "We must get information on Potter. If we don't, then we have no way of avenging the Dark Lord's fall!"

"We're not going to be able to get Potter, anyway, Yaxley. He's much too protected. He's not easy, like the mudblood. If we could just kill her..."

"I said no! Now shut up, we're almost at her cell."

Hermione gasped. "Harry was looking for her. And they knew it was Travers and Yaxley. And because Yaxley wouldn't let Travers kill her...it was only a matter of time. For the first time in a week, Hermione felt hope of getting out of this place.

The door opened and Hermione cringed, knowing what was coming.

"Hello, mudblood," Yaxley greeted coldly. "The time has come for you to tell us where Potter is and how we can get to him."

"No," Hermione said. Her voice croaked, she noted, from lack of use. "I'm not telling you anything."

"Crucio," Travers said lazily, pointing his wand at Hermione. She felt the now familiar pain and screamed. When the pain stopped, Yaxley said,

"You _will _tell us how to get to Potter,"

"Oh, I will, will I?" Hermione laughed. She didn't know why she was laughing; it was not a laughing matter. She supposed it was her days of confinement getting to her.

"Has she gone crazy?" asked Travers, "Because if she has, her information is useless."

Suddenly they heard a loud crash from above them. Dust rained down on Hermione.

"What was that?" Travers asked.

"How should I know?" Yaxley snapped.

They were all quiet for a moment and Hermione heard voices and footsteps coming down the hall.

"Who's there?" Travers called. Yaxley glared at him.

"Put your wands down," Harry's voice called out.

"They've found us," Travers muttered.

"Well obviously," Yaxley muttered back. They raised their wands even higher.

"Stupefy!" Several voices called. Yaxley and Travers flew backwards and fell to the floor.

"Harry?" Hermione called, not daring to believe it.

"Hermione?" He called back.

"Harry!" She called again.

"Petrificus Totalus," he said, pointing his wand at the two Death Eaters, freezing them.

Hermione raced forward and threw her arms around his neck. "Hello, Hermione," he said. Hermione felt her eyes tearing up with happiness.

"You came!" She said.

"Of course," he said. "And I brought some people with me."

Several aurors came in, including Kingsley Shacklebolt. Behind them, stood Ron and Draco, both beaming.

"Ron!" She cried, untangling herself from Harry and racing over to Ron. She hugged him and he lifted her up. When he put her down she moved to Draco, hugging him tightly.

"Are you all right?" He asked her.

"I'll be okay."

"Let's get you out of here," he said softly. Suddenly Hermione felt a wave of fatigue. She hadn't been sleeping the entire time she was here, but hadn't felt it. All of a sudden she collapsed into Draco's arms. "Can you walk?" he asked her. She nodded and took a couple steps forward but stumbled. Draco sighed and scooped her up in his arms as though she was as light as a feather.

Hermione squirmed, "You haven't slept in over a week either," she murmured, "And I'm not that light."

"I'm fine," Draco said. "Let's go." They apparated away and Hermione felt content, at last, in Draco's arms.

**Reviews make me VERY happy! :D **


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten:**

**Thanks to: ****AveryClaire, Mimpy, Loslote, IheartDracoandRon, nature love 95, RavenEcho, Erica, TheDancerSG, Skylan D. Water, Kasseraandra, edwardsoneandonlylove, kathyjo, XxEvilMasterMindxX, dmlainey, .rawr and ReadingIsAWESOME. **

**RavenEcho: Thanks again, for your awesome review! Thanks for all the suggestions : ) **

**Kasseraandra: You'll find out all that in the next couple chapters. ;)**

**Short, slightly filler chapter, but fun fluff too :). This is almost the end. One more chapter after this one plus the epilogue : ( Thanks to everybody who has read, favourite, alerted or reviewed this fic. You guys ROCK! **

* * *

Draco took Hermione to St. Mungo's to get checked out. After giving her a nourishment potion for the amount of meals she missed and healing her cuts and bruises, the healer told her that she was free to go home. Draco then apparated them to the manor (still not allowing her to walk) where they both collapsed onto the bed, immediately falling asleep.

Hermione woke up the next day in a soft bed. She looked around and for a moment couldn't remember where she was. Then she remembered what had happened in Yaxley manor.

"Draco," she hissed poking the sleeping blonde.

"Whassamater?" He asked sleepily.

"Wake up. I have some questions for you."

Draco rubbed his eyes sleepily and sat up. "Okay, what do you want to know?"

"How did you find me?" She asked immediately.

"Well, when you disappeared, your friends went to get Potter and Weasley. They contacted me and asked me to meet them at the ministry. I went only because I was getting worried about you. They told me what had happened. They asked me if I had any idea where Travers and Yaxley might have taken you. I had several ideas, but most of them you needed to be either a Death Eater or pure-blooded to get in. So, naturally I accompanied them on their search of the possible places you could be in case they needed my assistance. That's what we've been doing the last week. Yaxley Manor was the last place we looked. I'm sorry it took so long to find you."

"That's all right, you did your best. What happened to Travers and Yaxley?"

"They're locked safely away in Azkaban, don't worry. I think the dementors will be kissing them soon."

Hermione let out a breath of relief. Thank goodness. So you worked together with Harry and Ron?"

"Yes. We managed to work together without killing each other. In fact, Potter had some good ideas of where to look that I never even thought of." Draco didn't even look as though it pained him to compliment Harry, something Hermione was expecting.

"What about Ron?"

Draco grimaced. "Once we got past his swearing and threats to kill me, we managed to work together. We'll never be best friends, if that's what you're asking, but we managed to work together without causing harm to one another."

"Well, congratulations on that and thank you for rescuing me."

"You're welcome,"

Hermione leaned in and wrapped her arms around Draco's neck. He leaned close so that their faces were less than an inch apart. Then, he kissed her. It was soft and sweet and Hermione felt that it was utterly perfect. His arms snaked around her waist and he pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. Hermione didn't know how long they were there for before they broke apart, Hermione smiled at him.

"I think I made the right choice in marrying you," she said softly.

He smiled back. "I'm glad you don't regret it."

She kissed him softly on the lips and pulled away. "I need to see Harry and Ron. Did you want to come?"

"I don't want you going anywhere without me," he said. "Just in case."

"I'll be fine, Draco," she rolled her eyes. "But you can come if you want to."

After getting dressed and eating breakfact, they apparated to The Burrow. Hermione entered the tall, crooked house and felt herself being engulfed in many pairs of arms.

"Hermione!" Molly cried tearfully. "Are you all right? You look underfed, come, let's get you a snack!" Hermione smiled. Food was Mrs. Weasley's solution to everything.

"Let her breathe, Molly," Arthur said, "It's good to see that you're okay, Hermione. We were all so worried about you."

Ginny pushed past her father and jumped on Hermione. "Hermione!" She screamed. "I was so worried! I mean, they just came out of nowhere and grabbed you. Mel was distraught. You'd better go see her. And Luna," she added as an afterthought.

"Hello, Hermione," said George. "I'm glad to see that you're all in one piece. Listen, I'm sorry about before. I shouldn't have been so harsh on you and Malfoy."

"That's all right, George," Hermione said, hugging him tightly.

"Hermione!" Ron cried. "Better rested now?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes, thank you. And thank you for coming to rescue me even though you were mad at me. And for getting along with Draco."

"I wasn't mad at _you_, 'Mione, just Malfoy. And you know that we're never going to be friends, don't you?"

"Of course. I'm just glad you can be civil to each other."

Hermione hugged Ron tightly. He hugged her back, picking her up and twirling her.

"Okay, Ron, put me down," Hermione laughed. Then she spotted Harry over Ron's shoulder and moved to hug him.

"Hello, Hermione," he said, grinning at her.

"Hello, Harry. Thank you for rescuing me from that place."

"You're welcome. I know that you'd do the same for me."

"You're right about that. And thank you for getting along with Draco. It means a lot to me."

"He's actually pretty good at the dark wizard hunting; I told him that he should be an auror."

"Really?" Hermione asked. "I'll have to ask him about that."

"Hello, Potter," Draco said, coming up behind Hermione. She jumped. She had forgotten he was there.

"Hey, Malfoy. Did you finally get some sleep?"

"Yes, I did, thank you."

"That's good,"

"So, Hermione," said Harry, "The Aurors want an exact statement from you about what Yaxley and Travers did to you."

"What _did_ they do to you?" Asked Ginny. "I mean, if they hurt you, I swear I'll go to Azkaban myself and kill them."

"If I tell you what they did to me then you'll all just get mad."

"Okay, now you _have _to tell us," said Ginny as though it was just a piece of gossip and not Hermione's life.

"Okay. Well, they took me to that cell that you found me in. I must have blacked out because I woke up in that room. I think I was out for a day at least. When I woke up they came in and demanded to know where you were, Harry. I wouldn't tell them so they used the cruciatus curse on me. When I still didn't tell them, they used the imperious curse on me. But somehow, I managed to resist it..."

Hermione finished her story and the whole house was silent. Mrs. Weasley had started to cry and all the Weasley boys were clenching their fists.

"I'll kill them," Ron said angrily.

"I'll help," Harry said, fingering his wand furiously.

"Me too," said Draco, getting up and standing next to Harry and Ron.

"Calm down, you three," Hermione said, standing up to stand in front of them. "They're getting kissed, soon, aren't they? Then they won't be able to do anything to anybody anymore."

"Sit down," Ginny ordered the boys.

They obeyed and Hermione smiled. "Thank you. Now, Draco and I had better get going. We'll see you all soon."

The Weasleys said their goodbyes and Hermione apparated to the Manor. When she arrived, she had the sudden realization that the Manor, the place she had sworn never to enter again, had become home.

**Review, please! :D **


	11. Chapter 11

**Special Love to: IheartDracoandRon, dreadfuldelights, Mimpy, Erica, IlOvECoDy, AddictedToBooks08, snowprincess888, girlonfire12, ak, RavenEcho, ReadingIsAWESOME, nature love 95, Kasseraandra, TheDancerSG, Skylan D. Water, edwardsoneandonlylove, Bookdragon8 and ****LoveWarrior for your reviews :). Thanks to everybody who alerted or favourited—or both—OR ALL THREE! :D **

**Anyways... I'm not sure if I really captured Narcissa in this chapter; let me know what you think.**

**Just the epilogue to go now. :( Thanks for reading! :D**

**P.S: SOrry about the double post...I uploaded the wrong thing :P**

**Chapter Eleven:**

The next couple of weeks passed easily. Hermione sat at home and relaxed mostly. Draco tried not to let her out of his sight. She visited with the Weasleys a lot and paid a visit to Luna, who was relieved to see Hermione in one piece. She also went to visit Melissa who, upon seeing Hermione on her doorstep, shrieked and hugged Hermione so hard that she almost suffocated.

"Okay," she had said, laughing. "I know you're happy that the Death Eaters didn't kill me, but your hugs just might do that if you don't go easy. "

"I'm sorry," Mel had said. "So, tell me what happened. All I saw was two guys wearing black robes came and grabbed you by the arm. Ginny, Luna and I all screamed and then you just disappeared. Ginny and Luna were going on about some guy named Travers and another named Yaxley, but those names meant nothing to me. I mean, I knew that they were bad, obviously, but I didn't know that they were Death Eaters until Luna and Ginny started screaming about it. I was worried sick. Don't ever get kidnapped again, do you hear?" Melissa wagged a finger at Hermione.

"I'm fine, Mel," Hermione said. "They're gone now, the dementors sucked out their souls."

"Ew!" Mel cried. "Seriously?"

"Seriously. I'll tell you," And Hermione had explained all about her terrifying ordeal to her almost twin.

She was sitting in the library, remembering all this when a house elf popped in, startling Hermione out of her thoughts.

"Excuse me," Flipsy said, "Mistress Malfoy would like to see Miss Hermione,"

"Thank you, Flipsy," Hermione said to the little elf. "Where is she?"

"In her study," said Flipsy. "Mistress told Flipsy that she needed to see Miss Hermione in her study."

"Did she say what it was about?" Hermione asked.

"No," Flipsy shook her head slowly and sadly, as though it made her very upset that she didn't have the answer to Hermione's question.

"All right, thank you, Flipsy," Hermione said. She stood up and walked to Narcissa's study. She knocked on the door and heard Narcissa call,

"Come in."

Hermione entered the study nervously. She hadn't seen Narcissa since before she was captured. "Sit down. What can I get you to drink?" Narcissa's tone was not friendly, but her usual cold tone.

"I'm fine, thank you," Hermione said.

"Suit yourself. How are you? I understand you were through quite an ordeal."

"Yes," Hermione said stiffly. "I'm fine, thank you."

"I called you here today to offer you an explanation for my attitude towards you. " Hermione stared.

"You see, I grew up in the Black family. I know you knew my cousin Sirius and how he was raised. I was raised the same, as I'm sure you guessed. Lucius and I were arranged to be married when I was nineteen. I was lucky that I liked the person I was married to; some of us weren't that lucky. I was also raised to hate muggle-borns and muggles. When Lucius and I had Draco, we raised him the same way that we were raised, prejudiced and arrogant.

"When I learned of Draco's curse, I was horrified. I was always raised to believe that we were better than any muggle-borns because we were pure-blooded. I did not want somebody who I thought was so inferior to me to be in my perfect family. I resented you because you were tainting my perfect family tree."

I never got the chance to get to know you before I decided that I hated you. For that, I apologize. I also apologize for my coldness towards you. I now realize that you are good for my Draco. He seems happier now that he is with you. I would like to start over, if you would allow me to." Narcissa smiled slightly and looked at Hermione hopefully.

"Of course," Hermione said softly. "Thank you for telling me this."

"I felt I owed you an explanation for my actions. If you would like, I would love your input on the wedding. That way it is not just my ideal wedding, but yours too."

"That would be wonderful," Hermione said.

"Excellent," Narcissa said, clasping her hands together, "So, I have several different venues that I am having trouble choosing from..."

Hermione spent the rest of the afternoon in Narcissa's study, planning different aspects of her wedding. By the time dinner came around, Hermione felt as though she could finally fit in with the Malfoy family.

Hermione was sitting in the library one day, about a month and a half later, when somebody snuck up behind her and scared her. She whirled around, wand out, before she realized it was just Draco.

"Oh my goodness," Hermione sighed, lowering her wand. "You scared me!"

"I'm sorry," he said. He came up and kissed her softly. "Forgive me?"

Hermione smiled. "Of course,"

"Listen," he said, "I've made reservations for dinner tonight at six."

"Oh," she said. "Why?"

"Oh...no special reason," Draco said evasively. Hermione knew he was lying. For a Slytherin he was a rotten liar. But she figured she would find out soon enough.

That evening came and Hermione got dressed. She put on her makeup and headed back into the bedroom where Draco was already waiting, looking handsome in his dress robes.

"You look fabulous," he said, taking her hand, "Let's go." He apparated them to a small restaurant that Hermione didn't recognize. "Malfoy, table for two," he told the Maitre D. They were led to a private table in the far corner of the restaurant. They sat down and a waiter came with a selection of wine. Draco chose for them and it was poured. They made small talk until the meal came. Hermione wondered why he took her out tonight. He didn't seem any different tonight than he had any other night. Then he said,

"Hermione, I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And since I never got to do this properly..." He got down on one knee in front of Hermione and pulled out a little box. Hermione gasped. "Hermione, will you marry me?"

Hermione stared at him for a moment, her eyes filling with tears. "Of course!" Draco stood up and pulled her into his arms. He slipped the ring onto her finger and kissed her gently.

Hermione laughed happily. "I love you too."

**Next up is the epilogue! :D Reviews, my dears! **


	12. Chapter 12

**Thanks to: RavenEcho, Mimpy, XxEvilMasterMindxX, AddictedToBooks08, IheartDracoandRon, dreadfuldelights, girlonfire12, ak, Kasseraandra, EllieMay Duncan, nature love 95, Yanna, xxScarlettRavenInkxx, TheDancerSG, AveryClaire, edwardsoneandonlylove, terri, Ava-Potter gal, firebreathingdragonfly8, LoveWarrior, IsLuVrEaL, kathyjo, for reviewing :)! :D P.S. Sorry about the late update, I've been busy. And now I have a robot baby for parenting class and it cries a LOT. It's almost a good thing this is over now. :P**

**More A/N at the bottom...now READ! **

**Epilogue:**

The day was sunny and clear, perfect for a wedding. In her room in Malfoy Manor, Hermione smoothed imaginary wrinkles out of her dress nervously.

"What are you so nervous about?" Melissa asked, "I mean, you're already married."

"I know," Hermione said, "I just hate being in front of crowds. Especially these people. Most of them think that I shouldn't be marrying Draco because I'm a muggle-born."

"But they can't do anything about it," Ginny said, "You love him and he loves you. And everybody on _your _side is happy for you. If those snotty, pure-blooded people don't like it, then they shouldn't be here. It's as simple as that."

"I know," Hermione sighed.

"Oh, Hermione! I almost forgot," said Melissa, "Do you have something old?"

"Pearl necklace of my mums," Hermione said, fingering the pearls.

"Something new?"

"My dress,"

"Something borrowed?"

"I borrowed Narcissa's shoes."

Mel made a face. "Ew...anyway, something blue?"

"I have a couple blue gems in my tiara."

"Perfect," Melissa clasped her hands together. "You're ready."

"What was that all about?" Ginny asked. "Something old, borrowed, new and blue?"

"It's a muggle superstition. They say that on your wedding day you need to have something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue." Hermione explained.

"Time to go," Hermione's father said, coming into the room. "You girls look great."

"Thanks," They all said. Hermione took her father's arm and he led her to where the aisle was. The music started and the flower girls (Two of Draco's little cousins) entered, tossing their flower petals everywhere. The ring bearer (Mel's younger brother) came next, walking up the aisle with a serious expression on his face. Ginny and Goyle, the best man and maid of honour, came next, arm in arm, followed by Luna and Theodore Nott and Mel and Blaise Zabini. Finally, it was Hermione's turn. She walked slowly, like Narcissa had ordered her during the rehearsal, until she reached the front. Her father gave her over to Draco who whispered, "You look fabulous," before turning to the little man who was the officiator.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," he began, "We are here today to witness to joining of this couple..." While the man spoke, Hermione and Draco stared at each other's faces, both beaming. Finally, the officiator said,

"Do you, Hermione Jean Granger, take Draco Cygnus Malfoy to be your lawful wedded husband? To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer in sickness and in health? To love and to cherish from this day forward until death do you part?" It was the same vow that Hermione had heard from Dumbledore in his office many months ago. The difference this time, was that she was happy to be marrying him now.

"I do," she said, grinning at her husband.

"Do you, Draco Cygnus Malfoy, take Hermione Jean Granger to be your lawful wedded wife? To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer in sickness and in health? To love and to cherish from this day forward until death do you part?"

Draco smiled back at Hermione. "I do," he said. He took Hermione's hand and the officiator performed some spells and then said,

"I now pronounce bonded for life. You may kiss the bride."

Instead of the last time, when Draco had given her the quickest of pecks on the lips anybody had ever seen, he pulled Hermione into his arms and gave her a long, sweet kiss.

The officiator raised his wand as the audience stood up. The chairs that the audience had been sitting on were replaced by tables with fancy plates, glasses and cutlery on them.

When the meal was finished and the speeches done, it was time for the dance. Draco led Hermione to the centre of the dance floor and pulled her into his arms. The music started and they spun around the dance floor, Draco twirling Hermione every chance he got.

"Your mum did a good job with the wedding," she whispered to him.

"You helped her," he replied.

"I know, but she did most of the work. I just can't believe that we're happily married."

"I know what you mean, even just a year and a half ago, I would never have believed it."

"Me either."

"In some ways I'm almost thankful that You-Know-Who cursed me. I mean, without that, we never would have gotten together."

"I've thought about that before too. But I'm glad he's gone, of course."

"Oh, naturally," Draco said, "I just mean that his curse turned out to be more of a blessing."

Hermione didn't respond, but smiled at her husband as they twirled, completely blissful, in each other's arms.

The End.

**Wow...I can't believe it's over. I can't believe that I've finally finished this fic. When I started it, I didn't even know if I WOULD finish it...but now here it is, finished with over a hundred reviews. I have so many people to thank for this fic. So brace yourselves, this will be one LOONG A/N. **

**First of all, I want to thank my brother and sister, both of whom listened to this fic and gave me advice before I published. Without them, I wouldn't feel as confident in my work. They also listened to me squeal about getting over a hundred reviews and congratulated me, when everybody else just wondered what was wrong with me. **

**Next, I want to thank all the Dramione fic writers out there. I read about a million before deciding to write my own, and some of your AMAZING fics were my motivation. **

**A HUGE, GIGANTIC, ENORMUS, MONSTRUS and EVERY OTHER POSSIBLE SYNONYM FOR HUGE goes out to ALL my reviewers. You guys have helped me reach a personal fan-fiction goal: over a hundred reviews. Special thanks in particular to ****RavenEcho**** for reviewing every chapter and for all your support and advice in not only this one, but all my fics. Your reviews are always helpful and contain wonderful advice, while still being super-nice. I always look forward to your reviews when publishing a fic. Thank you to the people who took the time to tell me what you thought about my fic. Your support, criticism and praise helps me to become a better writer. **

**I want to let every single reader of this fic know that you are wonderful. Seriously. You don't know how happy I would get coming home from a long, stressful day of school to find lots of reviews, favourites and alerts. I still can't believe that so many people like this fic. You guys have made me feel ecstatic. I love you all. **

**I probably won't be writing a sequel to this fic, simply because I don't know what else could happen. Everything I planned has happened already. ****I WILL be eventually writing more Dramione, I just don't know when. But I do have a few other ones planned. I have a marauders oneshot that I am currently editing and deciding on a title, and I'm working on a Teddy Lupin oneshot. It's almost done and will likely be posted within the next few days. I'm hoping to write another Fred/Hermione, but I'm just waiting for inspiration to strike. In the meantime, you are all more than welcome to check out some of my other fics. But I warn you, my older ones are absolutely DREADFUL. I wrote them when I was a lot younger, less experienced, and had no idea how to use a comma :P. But anyways...check them out if you want. **

**Thanks again to all of you for making this my most successful fic. YOU GUYS ARE ****AMAZING!**** I hope you had as much fun reading this as I did writing it! **

**Wow...this A/N is almost a page long on Word :P But it's over now! Don't forget to review one last time! **


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